name:
Angel / nineflystudying:
media theory + psychologymini-bio: Book blogger and semi-professional graphic designer, I enjoy reading all kinds of books and ranting on about them afterwords. I apologize for not being much of a social person, but I try to reply to all response-seeking comments =)

1 umbrella:☂☂☂☂☂
could not finish2 umbrella:☂☂☂☂☂
at least it tried3 umbrella:☂☂☂☂☂
not amazing, but not bad4 umbrella:☂☂☂☂☂
well worth your time5 umbrella:☂☂☂☂☂
definite shelf-keeper

favourites:♥
my personal favourites, regardless of rating 8D

Publishers & Authors:
If you would like to guest post, participate in an interview, or send me a book for review or to give away, please take a look at my detailed review policy and contact me using this form, or email me at ninefly(at)gmail(dot)com!
Self-published books are absolutely welcome! Please note my mailing address is Canadian.
I submit reviews to Amazon.ca, Book Depository, goodreads, LibraryThing, and Shelfari.

I would also like to thank everyone who's following me so far! I really appreciate your support =)

Saturday, February 27, 2010

This is a series of short stories about a detective Sherlock Holmes, and his assistant, Dr. Watson. The detective is at the height of his powers and the volume is full of famous cases, including:
"The Red-Headed League"
"The Blue Carbuncle"
and "The Speckled Band."

Why I Read This
Listening to the entire original Sherlock Holmes collection narrated by John Telfer. Even though I read (parts) of this before, I'm still up for a refresher on the details I may have forgotten.

First Lines

“To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himself in a false position...

(from Scandal in Bohemia)

Overall Rating

☂☂☂☂

This is a reread for me, and as such with rereads of mystery novels, it's harder to be surprised. That said, I did deeply enjoy the majority of the stories as I recognized the little clues dropped here and there along the way. I am also continuously surprised at the range of voices Mr. Telfer is able to emulate, it is almost like listening to a full-cast show!

A monthly meme where I post about movies I've recently watched and ones I'm dying to see. I'll do a mini ★ review for each movie I've seen, and express in ♥s how excited I am for trailers of movies soon to be released. See all of my movie reviews here.

Friday, February 26, 2010

A weekly feature on my blog where I post up cover images that fit a weekly theme - art styles, artists, colour schemes, etc. In essence, this is a meme that celebrates book covers as pieces of art. Covers link to larger images and titles to goodreads summaries.

Hands are very expressive. I've always adored looking at hands because they make so many shapes and can form so many meanings. As someone who draws for a hobby, hands are almost always the hardest to draw, so I spend a lot of time studying their structure and lines. I also love pictures of people touching hands. Whether it's holding, engaging in a pinky swear (couldn't find an example, sadly), or even just hooking one or two fingers together.

Feel free to add any examples I may have missed in the comments and I'll add them to the post! It's disastrously hard to search cover images manually =X

Giveaway Reminder
If you haven't already, take a look at my 50 Followers Giveaway where you can win either a custom layout design from me, or a $5 gift card to either Amazon.COM or Amazon.CA! Since I've reached 100 followers, there will be TWO winners! Contest closes February 28th at midnight!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Say hello to a pack of New York City gutterpunks, the likes of which the Marvel Universe has never seen! The X-Men's dream has always been one of creating hope from despair - in a young mutant's darkest hour, Charles Xavier will always be just around the corner, ready with open arms and a helping hand. But Xavier can't be everywhere at once. What becomes of a group of young mutants that have to rely on themselves for everything from food to shelter to love? Wayward angels with dirty faces who, instead of preparing for Magneto's next big assault, must learn to survive in the cold, harsh world of the city that never sleeps. The world of the X-Men is brought to the streets, and the struggle for survival has never been more uncertain!

A very different kind of mutant superhero story, with empowered female leads, a diverse cast, and the visceral backdrop of New York City's most run-down sectors. I was quite engaged in each of the characters stories and personalities, but perhaps due to its 7-issue limited run, a lot of potential left unexplored.

A weekly meme that asks bloggers to post their opinions on specific topics.(hosted on Wordpress)

This week's topic:Why You Read
From Sven Birkerts' "The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age": "To read, when one does so of one’s own free will, is to make a volitional statement, to cast a vote; it is to posit an elsewhere and set off toward it. And like any traveling, reading is at once a movement and a comment of sorts about the place one has left. To open a book voluntarily is at some level to remark the insufficiency either of one’s life or one’s orientation toward it."To what extent does this describe you?

I'd say this is perfectly true in my case. I read because books offer things that are hard to find in day-to-day life: massive coincidences, magic, mysteries, and the agency characters have in going on adventures. I've always loved Chinese wuxia stories because they allowed for the romance (I'm using its original meaning here) of swordfights and pseudo-magical powers and brotherhoods and freedom. On the same note, books allow you to travel back and forth in time - you can go back in time to escape the mechanized, clock-mediated society of today, or go forward in time to see either how well we've done, or how horribly wrong we could go. I am a rather introverted person well, so I suppose that makes the remark on orientation towards life true as well. I like being stuck in my own imagination, or someone else's, in the case of a (good) book.
Plus, I personally don't think "insufficiency" is a negative descriptor, because the written language is usually rather different from the spoken - I doubt everyone talks like a third-person omniscient narrator, or a second-person POV for that matter. Just as a great deal of ideas and expressions can only be found in books, a great deal can likewise only be expressed in sounds. Thus, the non-book world "left behind" is naturally "insufficient" (here meaning "incomplete") to me, a reader who knows and appreciates the realm of written ideas.

Announcements
I've created a collective awards post to keep track of who gave me which award. I'll only be making new posts for awards I haven't been given before, but I'll keep adding names to the list if you re-award me =) Thank you!

Also, now that I'm past 100 followers, I'm thinking of hosting another giveaway (after my current one is over). Details are still in the workings, but I might get another poll up to see what you guys would like =)

If you haven't already, take a look at my 50 Followers Giveaway where you can win either a custom layout design from me, or a $5 gift card to either Amazon.COM or Amazon.CA! Since I've reached 100 followers, there will be TWO winners! Contest closes February 28th at midnight!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

A weekly event on my blog where I post about books (not necessarily pre-release or new) that I've just added to my wishlist, along with a little blurb on why I want to read it.(hosted by Book Chick City & Breaking the Spine)

Mason has never known his father, but longs to. All he has of him is a DVD of a man whose face is never seen, reading a children’s book. One day, on a whim, he plays the DVD for a group of comatose teens at the nursing home where his mother works. One of them, a beautiful girl, responds. Mason learns she is part of a horrible experiment intended to render teenagers into autotrophs — genetically engineered, self-sustaining life-forms who don’t need food or water to survive. And before he knows it, Mason is on the run with the girl, and wanted, dead or alive, by the mysterious mastermind of this gruesome plan, who is simply called the Gardener.
Will Mason be forced to destroy the thing he’s longed for most?

Why it's on my wishlist
This reminds me of a Goosebumps episode I watched where like, the step(?)dad is a monster plant or something lol. Either way, creepy and science-fictiony, perfect combo for me 8D

Giveaway Reminder
If you haven't already, take a look at my 50 Followers Giveaway where you can win either a custom layout design from me, or a $5 gift card to either Amazon.COM or Amazon.CA! Since I've reached 100 followers, there will be TWO winners! Contest closes February 28th at midnight!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Just grab your current read, open to a random page, and share a few "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!(hosted at Should Be Reading)

“"Hanna." Despite her apathy, Rosalee addressed me with an undue amount of care, as though I were a rabid dog she didn’t want to spook. "Did you kill your aunt?"
I ate the last bit of grilled cheese. I licked the grease from my fingers. "Probably."from chapter 1 of Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

This is about as far as I got in the book, which isn't far considering I read this teaser on the author's website lol. Just finished a TEN PAGE ASTRONOMY MIDTERM (short answer and fill in the blanks *dies*) so I haven't gotten much sleep the past night...I'm definitely going to try and finish this by the end of the week though, don't think I could help myself even if I still have a short paper due =X

Giveaway Reminder
If you haven't already, take a look at my 50 Followers Giveaway where you can win either a custom layout design from me, or a $5 gift card to either Amazon.COM or Amazon.CA! Since I've reached 100 followers, there will be TWO winners! Contest closes February 28th at midnight!

Wow, three reviews in a single week (technically two weeks since I skipped last Monday), I feel so productive! 8D I'm feeling on a roll so I'll try to keep up the pacing to at least finishing one book per week. We'll see how long that lasts lol

Giveaway Reminder
If you haven't already, take a look at my 50 Followers Giveaway where you can win either a custom layout design from me, or a $5 gift card to either Amazon.COM or Amazon.CA! Since I've reached 100 followers, there will be TWO winners! Contest closes February 28th at midnight!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Each week I will post a list of the books I've borrowed, received, or bought. I will keep a weekly tally in each post, as well as a yearly one on the sidebar. All books with PoC themes/authors will be listed for the "New Crayons" meme.
All prices are listed in Canadian dollars.(hosted weekly by The Story Siren / The Printed Page; New Crayons by Color Online)

Hey guys! Thanks to you all, I've reached 100 followers! This means there will be TWO (2) winners, and the prizes will break down as follows:
- if ONE winner chooses a custom layout, the other will get the giftcard
- if BOTH choose Amazon giftcards, they will both get the giftcards
- in other words: I'm only giving out one custom layout =P

First there is a Before, and then there is an After...
The lives of three teens — Claire, Jasper, and Peter — are altered forever on September 11, 2001. Claire, a high school junior, has to get to her younger brother in his classroom. Jasper, a college sophomore from Brooklyn, wakes to his parents’ frantic calls from Korea, wondering if he’s okay. Peter, a classmate of Claire’s, has to make his way back to school as everything happens around him.
Here are three teens whose intertwining lives are reshaped by this catastrophic event. As each gets to know the other, their moments become wound around each other’s in a way that leads to new understandings, new friendships, and new levels of awareness for the world around them and the people close by.

Why I Read This
I discovered this title from the list of prizes available for claim in the pick-your-prize contest I won. The mention of Jasper being Korean immediately caught my attention, just as much as his potential romance with Peter. I don't find a lot of gay Asian young adult characters in stuff I read, so this became my obvious choice =D

First Lines

“Jasper: I missed the whole goddamn thing. Slept late, woke up to the phone ringing, was completely oblivious. In fact, I was pissed that the phone was ringing, because it was before noon, and it was the house line, which meant it probably wasn't for me.

(this is technically from chapter 2, but I prefer Jasper's opening to Claire's)

Overall Rating

☂☂☂☂.5

Jasper steals the spotlight as the sarcastic, gay Korean-American University student who finds himself conflicted between accepting the well-meaning comfort offered by people who couldn't relate to his experiences, or pushing them away with jokes and reassurances. Peter is far from the token love interest as his voice comes to life through his love of music and the emotions songs and lyrics stir within him. Claire is the mutual acquaintance that brings the two closer together, but while she is not entirely negligible, I was disappointed in her role as the author's preacher. While I was quite moved by the messages of love and peace, I felt that the stark reality of the actual consequences in the aftermath (anger, hatred, war) should not have been so easily omitted.

Young Jim Kirk wants nothing to do with Starfleet, and never wants to leave Earth. In the summer of 2249, he's a headstrong seventeen-year-old barely scraping by in San Francisco, haunted by horrific memories from his past.
In the same city, a nineteen-year-old alien named Spock is determined to rise above the emotional turmoil of his mixed-species heritage. He's determined to show his parents he has what it takes to be Vulcan - even if it means exposing a mysterious conspiracy at the heart of the Vulcan Embassy, stretching to the farthest reaches of the Federation's borders. There, a chilling new threat has arisen to test the Federation's deepest held belief that war is a thing of the past and that a secure future can be forged through peaceful means alone. But it is in San Francisco, home to Starfleet Academy, where that threat will be met by two troubled teenage boys driven to solve the mystery that links them both.
In time, the universe will come to know these young rebels as Captain James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock...two of the Federation's greatest heroes. Yet before they were heroes, they were simply conflicted teenagers, filled with raw ambition and talent, not yet seasoned by wisdom and experience, searching for their own unique directions in life - a destiny they'll discover on one fateful night in San Francisco, when two lives collide, and two legends are born.

Why I Read This
Was on a Star Trek high when the 2009 movie came out and proceeded to watch most of the first 2 seasons of the original series. I ended up liking the original series more than the new movie, so I was curious how Mr. Shatner (the actor for the original Kirk) interpreted the First Meeting.

First Lines

“That first night in San Francisco when it all began was cool and gray and thick with fog. Soft billows of it drifted over the Academy, causing its tall locked gates to phase in and out of visibility for the teenager dressed in black, lost in the shadows across Pacific Street.

Overall Rating

☂☂☂☂

An unexpectedly intricate mystery is woven neatly alongside the themes of teenage rebellion, institutional corruption, and the slightly overdramatized flashbacks to the murky past of a young Jimmy Kirk. The struggles both teens have to overcome - Spock's search for his place between the Vulcan and human races, and Kirk's reluctant admiration for the very institution he has grown up to resent - urges along character development and the beginnings of a mutually supportive friendship. I am quite disappointed of the less than satisfying portrayals of female characters, as well as the lack of PoC characters, but casual readers should have no problems enjoying this read. I should also mention that, while there are ample descriptions of high-tech settings and props, I found this novel quite accessible for non-sci-fi fans as well.

Friday, February 19, 2010

A weekly feature on my blog where I post up cover images that fit a weekly theme - art styles, artists, colour schemes, etc. In essence, this is a meme that celebrates book covers as pieces of art. Covers link to larger images and titles to goodreads summaries.

This week's theme:Asian Characters
There's been some controversy I've witnessed regarding a few books that feature works by Asian authors or include Asian content, but don't actually portray anything culturally Asian on its covers. Either that, or they portray them in a "stereotypical" light. I have a little rant coming up where I discuss these issues of representation, but for now, here are some covers I've found featuring East Asian faces (the ones I identify more with) in a variety of contexts.

It's rather sad to note that out of all the photographed covers, only one of the characters shows their full face. Oh sure there's lots of face-cutting on covers in general, but there's also a lot of full-face (and in fact almost full-body) shots as well, especially for women in urban fantasy. Interestingly, according to comments on this review for Flash Burnout, people disliked the cover and could not imagine Blake to be "Asian". Having yet to read the book myself, I can't confirm or deny if the character of Blake is actually Asian or not, but I personally think the guy is rather handsome |D
Have you guys found any covers with non-stereotypical Asian characters? Photographic covers with a full Asian face? Please leave your opinions/discoveries in the comments =)

You may have noticed I've put up a new tag called asian pride. I'll be tagging all posts I make in the future about Asian media with this label, just because I do try to go out of my way to find and promote them =)

Giveaway Reminder
If you haven't already, take a look at my 50 Followers Giveaway where you can win either a custom layout design from me, or a $5 gift card to either Amazon.COM or Amazon.CA! We're almost to 100 followers! If I reach that number before the end of the contest, there will be TWO winners! Contest closes February 28th at midnight!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

The last thing in the world Thom Creed wants is to add to his father's pain, so he keeps secrets. Like that he has special powers. And that he's been asked to join the League - the very organization of superheroes that spurned his dad. But the most painful secret of all is one Thom can barely face himself: he's gay.
But becoming a member of the League opens up a new world to Thom. There, he connects with a misfit group of aspiring heroes, including Scarlett, who can control fire but not her anger; Typhoid Larry, who can make anyone sick with his touch; and Ruth, a wise old broad who can see the future. Like Thom, these heroes have things to hide; but they will have to learn to trust one another when they uncover a deadly conspiracy within the League.
To survive, Thom will face challenges he never imagined. To find happiness, he'll have to come to terms with his father's past and discover the kind of hero he really wants to be.

Why I Read This
I've always loved reading about superheroes, or watching movies/TV shows about them. There aren't many superhero novels (comics are aplenty), so I thought I'd give this a try. It also fits in my GLBT Challenge =D

First Lines

“I never thought I'd have a story worth telling, at least not one about me. I always knew I was different, but until I discovered I had my own story, I never thought I was anything special. My destiny began to unfurl during my very last game at school. What started with an accident on the court ended with the single most devastating look I ever got from my father. And it made me want to die.

Overall Rating

☂☂.5

The cliched plot points of convenience, tedious exposition of character pasts, as well as incredibly 2D side characters are only marginally redeemed by the sympathetic if rather dense protagonist Thom and his cute, blooming romance with his mysterious "rival" Goran. The action and intensity does pick up during the last third of the book, with murders and betrayals that depart almost entirely from the self-centered teen angst in the beginning. Nonsensical character decisions, appearances, and fatalities however, did nothing but frustrate me, despite the fact that the final "twist" was a relatively pleasant surprise.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

A weekly event on my blog where I post about books (not necessarily pre-release or new) that I've just added to my wishlist, along with a little blurb on why I want to read it.(hosted by Book Chick City & Breaking the Spine)

On assignment in London, FBI Agent Morgan Nash finds himself moments away from a bullet through the heart when the case he's working goes awry. But fate has other plans, he discovers when he wakes in a world far removed from his own.
At work cataloguing ancient manuscripts in the British Museum, Ezra Glacenbie inadvertently creates the magic that pulls Morgan out of the twenty-first century and into the nineteenth. It's an impromptu vacation which may become permanent when the spellbook goes missing.
Further upsetting Morgan's search for a way home is the irresistible temptation to investigate the most notorious crime of the nineteenth century. But it's the unexpected romance blossoming between Morgan and Ezra that becomes the most dangerous complication of all.

Why it's on my wishlist
I've seen quite a few glbt mysteries, but none that's based in the 19th century like this one. The dash of magic is of course a bonus, along with a scholarly hero and "unexpected" romance (as opposed to lust at first sight).

Giveaway Reminder
If you haven't already, take a look at my 50 Followers Giveaway where you can win either a custom layout design from me, or a $5 gift card to either Amazon.COM or Amazon.CA! We're almost to 100 followers! If I reach that number before the end of the contest, there will be TWO winners! Contest closes February 28th at midnight!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Just grab your current read, open to a random page, and share a few "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!(hosted at Should Be Reading)

“Kirk gave him a skeptical look, "How would you know how things 'typically' operate around here?"
Spock seemed surprised by the question. "I have read the Recruit's Manual."
"We've been here three days, Stretch. That thing's eleven hundred pages."
"Eleven hundred and twenty. Including the index."from chapter 37 of Collision Course by William Shatner

Sorry for the lack of updates, I'm at a friend's house where I don't have a stable internet connection DDD8
This book has been a on-and-off venture for me, mostly because I bought it while on a Star Trek high - introduced to the fandom by the 2009 movie and ended up enjoying the original series more lol. Now that high has sort of worn off, but I admit the "mystery" aspect of this novel was pretty well plotted. Will finish this soon, and just finished Hero yesterday, so new reviews should be up within the week =)

Giveaway Reminder
If you haven't already, take a look at my 50 Followers Giveaway where you can win either a custom layout design from me, or a $5 gift card to either Amazon.COM or Amazon.CA! We're almost to 100 followers! If I reach that number before the end of the contest, there will be TWO winners! Contest closes February 28th at midnight!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Hey guys, the lovely Kristen at Bookworming in the 21st Century has kindly featured my blog in her weekly Saturday Spotlight! I talk a bit about my interest in books and blogging, so check it out if you're interested =)

Also, I've set up a post on my layouts site that details what features a basic layout (the prize for those who chose custom layout as their prize on my 50 followers contest) will include. Check it out here! I will also put all announcements and important changes on my blog in the "My Giveaways & Announcements" section up there ↑

I finally finished my pre-break midterms (still have one post-break) and I'm planning to have a reading marathon with Ah Yuan over the next week, so hopefully there will be more reviews posted soon =D

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

A weekly event on my blog where I post about books (not necessarily pre-release or new) that I've just added to my wishlist, along with a little blurb on why I want to read it.(hosted by Book Chick City & Breaking the Spine)

A loner in his all-white high school, Chinese-born Xing (pronounced "Shing") is a wallflower longing for acceptance. His isolation is intensified by his increasingly awkward and undeniable crush on his only friend, the beautiful and brilliant Naomi Lee. Xing’s quiet adolescent existence is rattled when a series of disappearances rock his high school and fear ripples through the blue collar community in which he lives. Amidst the chaos surrounding him, only Xing, alone on the sidelines of life, takes notice of some peculiar sightings around town. He begins to investigate with the hope that if he can help put an end to the disappearances, he will finally win the acceptance for which he has longed. However, as Xing draws closer to unveiling the identity of the abductor, he senses a noose of suspicion tightening around his own neck. While Xing races to solve the mystery and clear his name, Crossing hurtles readers towards a chilling climax.

Why it's on my wishlist
I have Ah Yuan to thank for bringing this to my attention ♥ Chinese-Japanese-American writer FTW! correct Chinese-name pronunciation FTW! Chinese-American teen protagonist FTW! unreliable narrator FTW! I don't even remember the last time I've read about a Chinese-American high-school protagonist, and especially one I can really identify with (the all-white high school part). This will definitely make its way onto my shelf this year!

Giveaway Reminder
If you haven't already, take a look at my 50 Followers Giveaway where you can win either a custom layout design from me, or a $5 gift card to either Amazon.COM or Amazon.CA! Contest closes February 28th at midnight!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU FOR ENTERING, WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON =)

Thanks for the feedback on the poll! There were 34 votes, 18 of which were for the custom layout and 11 for the $5 Amazon giftcard. Since the votes were quite close for a while there, I've decided I'm going to let the winner chose the prize!

I'm still working on sorting out the details of the layout design prize and what it will include, but basically it will be a custom design with a header, background, and colour scheme of your choice. See an example made of my current layout here. It will probably take me a few weeks to get the whole thing done, but I would appreciate it if the winner can give me a general idea of what they want (ex. specific images/colours) right away.

Anyhow, here's a breakdown of the contest so far - it's my first contest, so gimme a nudge if anything seems confusing, I tried to be as (painfully) detailed as I can lol:

There will be ONE (1) winner for now.We got to 100 followers! I will make it TWO (2) winners, and the prizes will break down as follows:
- if ONE winner chooses a custom layout, the other will get the giftcard
- if BOTH choose Amazon giftcards, they will both get the giftcards
- in other words: I'm only giving out one custom layout =P

This is a followers-only contest, so please click the follower button on the sidebar to participate.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Each week I will post a list of the books I've borrowed, received, or bought. I will keep a weekly tally in each post, as well as a yearly one on the sidebar. All books with PoC themes/authors will be listed for the "New Crayons" meme.
All prices are listed in Canadian dollars.(hosted weekly by The Story Siren / The Printed Page; New Crayons by Color Online)

Saturday, February 6, 2010

First of all, I hope you guys don't mind me flooding your readers/inbox with memes. Luckily(?) this new meme won't be weekly, despite its title...most likely bi-weekly or monthly, but always on Saturdays. Anyways, the point is, I'm averaging about 5 movies minimum per month at the moment and thought I might as well post up some mini-ratings/reviews. I've made a separate page to host all of my movie reviews here, the new reviews I post for this meme will be added to that page as I go =)

A monthly meme where I post about movies I've recently watched and ones I'm dying to see. I'll do a mini ★ review for each movie I've seen, and express in ♥s how excited I am for trailers of movies soon to be released. See all of my movie reviews here.